Massachusetts

Municipal well field studies Geologic mapping in Massachusetts by Gregory Walsh has focused
on detailed studies in the vicinity of municipal well sites, in cooperation with Forrest Lyford of
the USGS Massachusetts-Rhode Island District, resulting in three open-file reports on areas near
the towns of West Newbury, Maynard, and Paxton. The characterization of the bedrock geology in each
area is part of a study on delineating contributing areas to public-supply wells and hydrologic responses
to pumping in fractured-bedrock aquifers. The purpose of the geologic aspect of this study is to describe
the characteristics of the bedrock that may influence ground water flow and to identify potential directions
of anisotropy in the fractured bedrock. In the West Newbury study,
in particular, a close relationship was found between contributing area and structural anisotropy.

I-495 corridor mapping BRASS is planning to produce bedrock geologic maps of selected 7.5-minute quadrangles in the rapidly-developing corridor along and near Interstate 495, west and south of Boston, with a focus on the hydrogeology of the Nashoba terrane. This program will be conducted in cooperation with Stephen Mabee, Massachusetts State Geologist, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management.